


A Burned Rock, Bits of Paper, and Highgarden Hens

by Sookiestark



Series: Twelve Days of Westerosi Christmas [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Internalized Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 11:44:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13145991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sookiestark/pseuds/Sookiestark
Summary: Sansa comes to King's Landing after the war to see the Dragon Queen and the princes. While she is there, she remembers and grieves for Margaery Tyrell.





	A Burned Rock, Bits of Paper, and Highgarden Hens

**Author's Note:**

> This story goes back and forth from Sansa when she was in King's Landing when Joffrey was King, to when she is visiting the Daenerys, to further in Sansa's future. Someone asked me to write a Margaery/Sansa story and here it is...

It was winter when she went to King’s Landing. Lady Sansa Stark sailed a ship, named Summer Breeze from White Harbor to King’s Landing. The seas were a little rough. The winds were chill but Lady Stark, the Warden of the North had faced worse.

It had been summer when she had met Margaery and all her memories of Margaery Tyrell, the Little Rose, the Maid of Highgarden were summer heat and summer bright. Lady Sansa knows that she was just a young woman when she met Margaery and that being such a young woman might have created a childish vibrance or sentimentality that was only added to by her being orphaned and alone in King’s Landing. It might have been but Sansa knows that it was real, nonetheless. 

Sansa has come to King’s Landing to visit her cousin’s children and see the Dragon Queen. 

When Sansa arrives in King’s Landing, she gets the sensation of drowning in memories. She is grateful that the Red Keep took a great deal of damage in the final days that Cersei Lannister sat on the Iron Throne. Queen Daenerys has had to rebuild much. Even still, Sansa finds herself walking down hallways where Joffrey threatened her or had the Kingsguard beat her. She finds paths in the gardens where she walked with Shae or Margaery, They put her rooms a few doors down from where she and Tyrion, her first husband, had their quarters. 

Though Sansa has learned to deal with living among memories, after all, she resides in Winterfell and that is a place filled with the best and worst memories of her life. There are moments that she finds it difficult to breathe navigating the corridors. When Tyrion comes out of a large oaken door talking to several men with quills and scrolls, she is grateful to see the Hand of the Queen. He takes her hand because he sees the lack of color in her cheeks, the panic in her eyes.  
“My Lady, can I assist you?”

She smiles, grateful as she always has been for his assistance though she wonders if it is forced. “I think I may have gotten lost and stumbled into my memories. I am fine now.”

He smiles, waving the other men away and keeping her hand in hers, “I do that all the time. Turn around a corner and expect to see my father or Myrcella or Jaime. I promise you, even with all the new additions,the Red Keep is loaded with memories and ghosts. Perhaps, we should have the Queen move you to the new wing.”

“No, I will be fine. I just need a moment.”

“Of course, why don’t we go for a walk around the gardens and you can catch your breath?”

“Thank you, my Lord. The gardens would be nice.”

“Tyrion, Sansa. My name is Tyrion.”

 

On the third day, Lady Sansa asks Lord Tyrion Lannister if he will take her to the remains of the Sept of Baelor and the burned parts of the city. He has a carriage take them to the stones. The Queen is rebuilding the Sept but first, they must remove the rubble. Tyrion has seen the plans for the new Sept of Baelor. They are magnificent, but it could take a decade or more to build. 

When they reach the place where the Sept of Baelor stood, Tyrion asks the driver to stop and asks if Sansa would like to take a step outside and look around. Sansa sees the ruined blackened stones, the workmen loading wagons filled with rocks, the occasional cook pot or seven star or piece of broken jewelry, lying amid the rubble. She almost feels the sadness of the loss of life tighten her throat and shoulders and pushes back against the urge to cry. 

Tyrion speaks, “They say the stones smoked for a year. When Queen Daenerys came to King's Landing, she had the men look for remains, but there was only ash and the huge hulking smoking crater.”

Sansa finally is able to speak and ask the question, “This is where Margaery died.”

“Yes, with her brother, Loras.” 

Sansa looks around for some sign, some recognition, some piece of her. She could not imagine Margaery falling into such a trap. The Little Rose was clever, so clever to Cersei’s machinations. “Are we certain? Perhaps she was able to escape.”

Tyrion looks at her, “Perhaps, but if she was why not come back now and claim Highgarden. Queen Daenerys has been a friend to the Tyrells. There are some who see her ghost here, trying to get everyone to leave the sept. Some see her with her brother. There are some who see her in the Red Keep in the gardens. I have never actually seen her.”

Sansa sees her everywhere, but she never sees her actual ghost. Sansa sees her in the flowers in the garden, with their soft colorful petals and their bright green leaves. She sees them in the young ladies at court, giggling and lovely. She sees Margaery in a cup of warm tea in the afternoon and the sound of a court minstrel singing, in the sunshine, in the rain, in a pair of gloves, or in embroidery. Unfortunately, she will never her see her actual living breathing face again.

 

*******  
Margaery is her only friend in King’s Landing. No one can save her and all is lost. Margaery is the only one who will walk with Sansa in the gardens, who will have tea with her. She is bright and happy and Sansa wants to be her, pretty and happy and safe.  
Lady Margaery Tyrell is the only one who can defy King Joffrey’s dislike of her. Sometimes, Margaery and her will walk around the gardens. Sometimes, they will read stories in the grass. Sometimes, they practices stitches in their embroidery. Margaery is terrible at her stitches. It might be the only thing that Margaery is not good at.

“How clever you are, Sansa. Look at the rose you have made. I have been making them my whole life and yours is good and fine next to mine. Mine looks like a sloppy child made it.”

Margaery is beautiful and when she smiles, it is the most precious thing. The gentle touch of her soft fine white hands on her arms, the lingering eyes with their long lashes, the shape of her body against the stone of the garden walls, all of these are precious but her smile is definitely the best part of Margaery.

It is Margaery who brings up the plan of Sansa marrying Loras and going to Highgarden for safety. The idea of freedom, of safety, of love, of anything else but King’s Landing and King Joffrey’s daily abuse is fresh air to her. It is a secret hope. Margaery whispers in her ear, brushing back her red hair. Sansa shudders from the movement and wonders why her hand lingers against her face. “We would be sisters. We will be family. You will love Highgarden. I will come to show you.” 

In their joy, Margaery and Sansa practice dancing for soon-to- be wedding feast. Margaery takes the lead. After all, she is such a graceful dancer that she knows both parts so well. While they dance, Sansa’s heart beat wildly with fear and something more. It is so loud and fast Sansa is sure that Margaery can hear it. Sansa thinks to herself, Margaery will hear it and know, not only am I a traitor, I am unnatural. 

Instead, when the dance is over, Margaery pulls Sansa closer from her waist and kisses her cheek.

One day, while they are walking in the gardens, they see three Highgarden hens, fluffy hens with blue and grey feathers. They are beautiful, with gorgeous markings, known for their beauty and their green eggs.

Margaery speaks, “At Highgarden, the castle is full of them, purple, blue and green. You will see, when you get to Highgarden. That will be us when we grow old, clucking and together in Highgarden, like hens.” Margaery laughs at her own joke. Sansa holds it close to grow old with Margaery at Highgarden is a fantasy, a delightful dream.

Of course, the Lannisters find out and marry her to Tyrion. Sansa is still able to see Margaery, but her dreams of being a Tyrell and Margaery’s sister are dashed. When the Little Rose marries Joffrey, she will be her aunt.

 

*******  
Tyrion Lannister invites her to his solar about halfway through her trip. Sansa is not surprised how good a companion he is. After all, he is funny, clever, well read and thoughtful. She is surprised at how she brightens when she sees him and how she feels safer if he is near.

They are eating lunch when he hands her a box. Inside the box is a rock, small enough to fit in a box but almost too big for Sansa’s hand to hold it. On it are strange burn marks. It actually looks like two Highgarden Roses, the sigil of House Tyrell. 

“What is it, Tyrion?”

“It could be anything I imagine, but the masons found it in the rubble at the Sept of Baelor and rumors started flying about. It was supposed to mark the place where Loras and Margaery burned. In fact, some think they are etched on this very stone.”

Sansa looks at it, rubbing her finger over the marks. “Do you think that is so..?”

“The wildfire caused a great many interesting marks on the stones, faces, sigils, birds, beast. I don’t know, but is strange that it looks so much the sigil of House Tyrell. “

Sansa wipes her eyes and places the rock back in the box.

"You can have it. There are only cousins left. It would be lost and mean little.. I know how much she meant to you. I think you should keep it.”

She smiles and thanks him, a genuine smile and genuine thanks. 

They spend the night drinking wine and telling stories about their lives. Sansa is comfortable with Tyrion. She gets serious as she runs her fingers over the carved table. She asks to go to the rooms that were theirs, when they were husband and wife. Sansa apologizes immediately, not knowing who resides in the chamber. 

Tyrion calms her. “You will bother no one, Sansa. We can go. But why?”

“I left something there and I want to see if it is still there…”

He takes her. After all, it is not a long journey, just down the hall. She is giggling from nerves. The Unsullied guard, that escorts Tyrion everywhere, shows no emotion, but Sansa feels that he thinks she is being foolish. 

When the door open to the room, Sansa knows it is immediately occupied. With the red and gold, the lions, the books, she knows that Tyrion still sleeps in their old quarters. It is strange to think of him here. Tyrion smiles awkwardly, “Cersei burnt the Tower of the Hand down and I had to stay somewhere while it was being rebuilt.”

They smile at each other and she realizes he might be on of the last people alive that knows her from before and she likes that more than she would have thought. There is a weakness to it but there is also a freedom to be a real person with hurts and fears.

Sansa does not care if he watches. She doesn't feel he is a threat. Running her fingers over the mantle and feeling for the latch, she frees it easily and all the letters and tokens tumble from the secret place. She laughs at the crumbling parchment in pinks and yellows, pieces of brown petals from roses long dead, faded ribbons, pieces of embroidery, and small drawings

.

 

**********  
When Margaery sends for Sansa, there are only a few weeks before the Royal Wedding. Sansa comes to her room. Sansa is dutiful and goes where she is bid, but when Margaery calls for her, it has little to do with duty.

Margaery is in her rooms, waiting for her. “I thought we could talk. Alone..” 

She walks like water, all undulating waves and curves, beckoning to join her in the deep mystery. Sansa does not know the feeling to understand it. She is straight backed, broken and fearful, unprotected. A traitor. 

Sansa does not trust the feeling and when Margaery escorts her to the chaise to lay with her and look at drawings of her wedding portrait. When Sansa lays down next to Margaery, her stomach feels strange. It is doing turns, like it is trembling. Sansa knows that she is reading all the signs wrong and that she is afraid of doing something that will end all her time with Margaery. 

 

Sansa holds back until she feels she will break, until it hurts, 

“May I kiss you?”

“Please, Sansa .. Please do.”

 

 

*******

Lady Sansa Stark Lannister keeps Highgarden hens at both Winterfell and the Rock. She keeps a small flock, six or seven The Steward at both places shake their heads. They are the most stupid of all the poultry. Lady Sansa usually so sensible must have them. She laughs to see them and they seem to calm her. 

*****

 

In the few weeks that they have before the wedding, they write love letters, disguised as regular notes and carried by servants. “Would you like to come for tea?” means I need you now. 

“Thank you for a lovely time.” means I still think of your kiss.

“Your dress was lovely” is you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I will love you always and forever.

Margaery teaches her love that one does not love a gender they love the person beneath the skin. 

Sansa wishes she could rewrite the rules that she could be with Margaery. When she is with her, everything is better.

“Your kisses taste like lemon sugar,” Margaery says, laughing in her ear.

“Yours always taste like summer mint.”

The small expanse of Margaery’s stomach is the whole map of Westeros. Sansa wishes to linger there until she dies, lost in a forbidden wilderness. She never wants their time together to end and she never wants to leave Margaery’s arms. She would gladly die here.

Margaery had whispered in the tangle of their hair, red and brown, “How beautiful you are Sansa.. how heartbreakingly beautiful.” She had called her eyes snowstorm of blue snowflakes and Sansa had kissed her

In the space of her arms, she had felt beautiful and safe. 

 

**********

Sansa is lost in her thoughts in the garden of King’s Landing when he comes to her. Tyrion smiles and sits on the bench beside her. “I have enjoyed your time here, the time we spent together.”

“I have enjoyed your company as well.”

She starts to tell him about the notes, the ribbons, the drawing. In her hand, she has a pencil drawing of Margaery with roses in her hand. Sansa tells him the story of kisses and fevered, burning touches. Tyrion’s eyes get wide but he says nothing. The breeze from the Bay blows the smell of roses and lilies away.

Sansa tells him how she remembers feeling close to another person and how she had longed to touch someone to feel loved and cared for. She still longs for it. 

“It was if I longed to be held, as if I had never been touched or loved before her.” She felt like she was stumbling over the words, “Do you know what I mean or do I sound crazy?”

“No, you don't sound crazy. I know what you mean to feel unloved, to crave kindness, to crave love.”

Sansa tells him how afraid she had been, terrified. “There were only two people who seemed to make me feel less alone, Margaery and you.” 

She had wanted to tell him that Margery was her Knight of Flowers. She could not find the words to make it not be hurtful.

Sansa puts the drawing in the pocket of her dress. “I would very much like to kiss you, Tyrion. I have not kissed many people, though I have been kissed by a few… May I kiss you?” 

Tyrion looks nervous and nods. Hesitantly, she kisses him lightly. Then, she kisses him more strongly. She hears the noise in his throat. It sounds soft and she would like to hear it some more. 

She takes his arm and they walk toward the sea.

********  
It was spring the first time she died. Her husband was crying about how he killed both the women he loved.

“Tyrion, please don’t cry.”

“It must be a terrible sight,” he joked, as he wiped the tears away. 

“The baby?”

“She is beautiful, perfect like her mother and her brothers.”

She smiled wiping his cheeks, “Surely, it is not as bad as all that. After all, we are Lannisters. We roar not weep.”

“You must stay with me, Sansa. I am weak and I need you. Fight and stay with me and the children.”

“Shh...I am not dying, not yet. I don't see her. If she is not here, it is not time. Not yet. Bring me my daughter.”

“Who, Sansa?”

She never answered and Tyrion always assumed it was her mother. 

The second time Sansa died, it was winter.

Sansa feels herself slipping away, away from her children and her husband. She hears them crying, but they are safe and healthy and she is tired.

She feels a tug and she is standing at the foot of her bed looking down at her body. She had not wanted to die in King's Landing. She had wanted to die in Winterfell. She hopes her husband has the good sense to lay her at Winterfell. He is often sensible, but grief makes fools of us all. 

She feels someone grab her hand and it distracts her from her body. It is Margaery in a green dress, low cut with fine cloth. Her hair in gorgeous soft curls and her smirk could sink the Royal Fleet and start a war.

“Margaery..”

“Sansa..”

Sansa looks down and her body is young. Her grey hair has turned back to the color of the sunset on the water at Casterly Rock.

All Sansa can say is “Please, please kiss me..”

Margery smiles and takes her head in her hands and kisses her. Sansa knows she is home.


End file.
